A 3D-printed liver could become a reality in 2014

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We are rapidly approaching a point where you can simply press print and have a 3D printer spew out whatever you can imagine. Biomedical firms are using the same concepts to develop 3D printing for human tissues — potentially even entire organs. It has been slow going, but one company now expects to be able to deliver a 3D printed liver in 2014.

Consumer 3D printers usually only work with one or two types of plastic, so there isn’t much that can go wrong. Tissues and organs are much more complicated with an array of different cells and structures arranged on connective tissue scaffolds. Researchers have been getting close to replicating the design of organs on the small scale, but the vascular system has been a stumbling block — without a sufficient supply of oxygen and nutrients, the issue will die long before it gets off the printer.

California-based Organovo says it has overcome that hurdle when it comes to the liver. Organovo’s 3D printing process can build liver tissue to a thickness of 500 microns — about the thickness of 5 sheets of paper. That’s a bigger deal than it sounds like. At that thickness, the cells toward the inside would die if not supplied with nutrients, but by laying down fibroblasts and endothelial cells along with the hepatocytes (liver cells) Organovo has built a functional vascular system.

The mind immediately jumps to transplants when we hear about 3D printing organs, but that’s still down the road a bit. Organovo’s printed liver tissue will first be of use in the laboratory. Creating a “liver-on-a-chip” could allow drug companies and other researchers to test medicines and techniques in a more realistic environment. The liver is an easy first target because its overall structure is more simple than other organs and the functionality is decentralized. That’s why people can donate a section of liver and continue to live a normal life.

Getting FDA approval to implant 3D printed tissues is a process that would likely take 3-10 years, but this might be the first step. Organovo expects to begin selling samples of 3D printed liver tissue for research use only in 2014.